Fine Heirloom Sewing, Smocking and Hand Embroidery

"Baby will be well and smiling in little garments made by Mother, Auntie, Grannie and loving friends!"

Please join me as I teach the old fashioned techniques and skills needed to sew baby clothes. You will find lessons that start at the very beginning and take you step by step as we sew little baby clothes together. May you find much joy and pleasure in making them.

Friday, August 6

The Embroidery Design is on page 2 of your pattern instructions. Get it out and look at it.

Starch and Press your Dress Front (do not press over tape on wrong side). Fold Daygown Front together and crease Center Front all the way down to the hem. Read Step 2 for more instruction.

There are different ways to transfer embroidery designs onto fabric. I am showing you how I will transfer the embroidery design using this pattern and this embroidery design.

Link for Lesson on Transferring Embroidery Design Here! Read the entire Lesson even if you don't think it applies to you.

Then come back to this lesson and continue.

Read all instruction in this Post about the Embroidery before beginning your work.

Line up the Daygown Front neck with the neck edge of the embroidery design. (in picture above)

I have my design pinned to a Fabric Board. An ironing board can work as well. Or, gently tape the design to the table so it will not move.

Place a piece of white computer paper under the page with the embroidery design on it. It will help make the design more visible. I did not have any problem seeing the design through my blue Satin Batiste fabric.

I am making my Daygown for a Boy Baby and although the embroidery design is elaborate, it is suitable for a boy. To make the Daygown less fancy, just leave off the hem embroidery.

I am measuring 6 3/4" above the hem for the right side of the hem design. I will measure the left side of the design too. I want to make sure the design is even on both sides of the daygown hem area.

The instructions for the Hem embroidery design tell you to place the lowest part of the embroidery design 6 3/4" above raw hem edge. It is important to measure for each side.

We will not embroider this lesson. Set the fabric aside after tracing embroidery design.

Now go back and transfer your Embroidery Design.

Then come back for the MAJOR part of this Lesson.

Question for Lesson Two - Where do you live? Which State if in the USA. Please post comment at the end of this Lesson on this Post.

Buttonholes!!

It is raining this morning. Perfect sewing weather. It feels nice to just look out the window at the rain.

I down loaded some Joshua Bell music "Romance of the Violin" to listen to. Perfect music for Handmade Buttonholes!

Most of the old Baby Clothes were made by hand and even the old Baby Clothes that were made by machine had Handmade buttonholes in them. There was a practical reason for this. The sewing machines did not make pretty little button holes. Today our sewing machines can make lovely buttonholes. There is no shame in putting machine made buttonholes in your little Daygown. Having said that, I REALLY want you to stitch at least a couple by hand on a practice fabric. Your dress is not entirely made by hand if you use the machine for buttonholes.

Always stitch at least one buttonhole on the same fabric as your garment before stitching the buttonholes on your garment. Have the same layers of fabric for practice as you have on your garment. (two for this daygown)

Machine Stitched Buttonholes: Use a very light weight stabilizer under the fabric. I use plain old tissue paper. Use DMC #50, Mettler #60 Mettler Silk Finish #50 cotton thread (top and bobbin).

Sewing your Buttonhole will depend on your Sewing Machine and you will need to refer to your Machine manual or your local Sewing Machine Dealer. Usually the top tension is tightened , sometimes the machine does this automaticly.

Karin is stitching along from New Jersey...the Garden State. I curreently am in south/central NJ, about 25 minutes from Philadelphia...home of Liberty and Independence. Someday, Jeannie, we will have these lessons in Victorian Cape May...you will love it there. Love the lessons!

Love this lesson!!! Now I will know the perfect way to to hand button holes. I'm in Baton Rouge, LA but have family in for the weekend and won't get to do my lesson until they have returned home. Going to enjoy my family, grandchildren, granddog and then enjoy my down time doing my lesson. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Saving my cake and tea for later

Hi Jeannie! I am stitching in St. Petersburg, Florida. Actually, I am using today to catch up. I received the gown pattern from you on Monday and have prepared my fabric (white cotton lawn). I was both hoping and a little afraid that this week's lesson would be handmade buttonholes. I've done them before but have never been satisfied with my work. I really hate machine buttonholes on fine baby things so these will be handmade (and hopefully much better than my previous ones)! Thank you for all the detailed steps in your lessons!

Hi Jeannie,I live in Hot Springs, Arkansas and today the rain has fallen,and I rejoice in God's perfect timing! I can't wait to get started on this lesson and my buttonholes, plus embroidery design. I am actually not behind!!!

I am in Highland Village, a suburb north of Dallas, Tx. Wish it was raining, except with our heat it would just be steamy. The cake looks yummy. Hope I don't get chocolate icing on my little white daygown!

I live in Michigain. Your china is so so so kawaii(cute)!!!!!! Mama said I should mention that I'm learning Japanese, just to make the kawaii less random. The cake looks very tasty too...maybe the birds are stalking the cake!?!?I happen to be the teenage daughter that Wendy(Mama) mentioned sewing along with.

I am just beginning so am a little behind. My sweet husband brought me a new light box so I will be tracing my embroidery here in Texas. Such fun. I don't yet know if I will tackle hand buttonholes but may try one on a sample. Thanks for the lessons. Also, I am making this little gown for the daughter of a friend.

I just finished sewing the buttonholes by machine, sorry, but I promise I'll try a couple of hand-made ones on some scraps! I've never done that before. This fabric is so fun to work with, I love it. I see more satin batiste in my future!

I live in Northern California--in the forgotten third of the state above Sacramento. ;)

Answer to Virginia: The buttonholes are vertical like the pattern shows. You need to turn the fabric when stitching them so the picture might show them side ways. The direction of the buttonhole can make a difference so it is best to follow the pattern directions. In the case of this Daygown, there would not be enough fabric on either side of the buttonhole for stability if they were horizontal. And the buttons would be off center as they pulled to the edge of the buttonhole.

Good Morning, Jeannie,I am sewing in Daphne, Alabama which is on the Eastern Shores of the Mobile Bay. It is HOT,HOT,HOT, and a lot of STEAMY!!! The chocolate cake looks scrumptious!!!Thank You for all your time with this sew-a-long!!

Hi Jeannie,I'm ready to start lesson 2 and I'm going to attempt buttonholes by hand, just to say I did it. I'm writing about my experience in the Sew Along. It's great that so many ladies are participating!My question: I am making this for my baby boy. I'm using blue satin batiste and I'm still hung up on the embroidery looking "girly". I found a design by you in CN Nov/Dec 98 (p.22) Do you think I could substitute that one?

Hi Jeannie,I now know that I can remove a handmade buttonhole and start over!I think I am through the learning curve, but I do have a few questions. I have heard so many different opinons about using starch and the blue wash out markers. Do you think starch makes it hard to get the blue out? and does ironing over the blue marks make them permanent? Also, what length of thread is best to use for the buttonholes? Thanks! Darby

Answer to dlogan: Well, I starch really well before I mark my fabric but I have marked and then starched and I press over mine. But I will not tell you the blue will always come out. Just that I have not had a problem with it. You can be safe and starch, mark, sew and carefully rinse it out before continuing. But be careful you don't fray the unfinished edges of the daygown. I use 18" to 20" of thread or floss or what ever I am using.

Hi Everyone,I'm from Boise, Idaho. I love everyone's comments. I'm on vacation this week and I'm finishing up projects for the state fair, but I'm taking time out to stitch my daygown. I may even enter it in next year's fair. Thanks for the easy instructions. Jan

I live in Stoughton, WI but am in Orlando right now for my oldest daughter's college graduation. I never tried handmade buttonholes before but I loved doing these! Mine are very, very far from perfect but the look is so much lighter than machine ones and I avoid the terror of knowing that if my machine goes all fussybludget on a buttonhole, it will be almost impossible to unstitch or fix. Thank you for giving me the courage to try these!

Thanks for the yummy looking cake! I am stitching along from Mayer, Minnesota (a little town about 45 southwest of the Twin Cities). I can't wait to try the hand buttonholes...I have not been pleased with how my machine works buttonholes on the fine fabric I use for heirloom sewing, so may this will be my new method!

Hi Jeannie I live in Lexington Missouri a civil war town just of Kansas City Missouri. We have a connon ball still in our courthouse column that was fired by the southern troops. We still use the same courthouse it was built aroung 1840 or so. I don't have anyone to sew for so I guess I'm making it for me. My question is do you do the embroidery after you cut the gown out? If you do how do you use a hoop? do you make the seam lines also so you know where to sew the seams? Thanks Pandy

Answer to Pandy: I don't use a hoop for the stitches on this embroidery design so I cut the pattern out first and then embroider. If you were to use a hoop, you would need to trace the pattern onto your fabric, and the embroidery design too. Then embroider and then cut out the garment. I am going to do the embroidery after the garment is finished and will not use a hoop.

Answer to Embroidery Floss colors: I am doing my blue daygown in a blue that matches. It will be all one color. I like tone on tone. It could also match the lace - ecru for ecru lace or white for white lace. And you can always use colors. Green for stem and leaves and blue or pink for flowers. Choices , choices!

Jeannie...I stitched my buttonholes today and although they aren't perfect it was a great challenge and I enjoyed it. My question is this: After I finished them I wondered if I should have waxed my thread? Do you personally wax your thread when you stitch the buttonholes by hand? Thanks so much!!!

Daygown Sew Along Lesson Four

Daygown Sew-Along Lesson Three

Daygown Sew-Along Lesson Two

Daygown Sew-Along Lesson One

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Jeannie Downs Baumeister

I love babies, embroidery and old fashioned Baby Clothes!! I am the designer for the pattern line "The Old Fashioned Baby". My designs reflect my interest in vintage infant's and children's clothing, as do my classes, many of which include techniques and embellishments used from the late 1800's to the 1950's. I teach these techniques around the United States and publish some of my designs and ideas in Classic Sewing magazine. And I love Roses and all the flowers in My Garden (and yours too, probably).